Pacific Crest Trail:
Ebbetts Pass to Castle Pass (PCT Mile 1050.19 to 1161.83)
Here is a link to the route in CalTopo.
Here is a link to the annotated photo show.
During the first week of August, 2013, we (Amy and James) walked ~112 miles of the PCT, from Ebbetts Pass (highway 4) to Castle Pass (which is just north of Interstate 80) in the Sierra Nevada. Along the way, we climbed four SPS Peaks: Round Top, Granite Chief, Tinker Knob, and Castle Peak. We averaged eighteen miles per day, not counting the side trips for peak bagging.
This was an opportunistic trip as we were generously offered a ride to Ebbetts Pass by an acquaintance, and we have friends in Reno (an easy bus ride back to the Bay Area from there) who picked us up at the I-80 rest area near the PCT crossing. Thus we were able to do a one-way hike in an area we had not previously walked without having to deal with car shuttles. We enjoyed seeing parts of the Sierras that we had not previously visited.
Although this walk in the Sierra Nevada is not as grand as those in the more southern High Sierra (Sequoia Kings Canyon NP and north as far as the Mono Recesses), we had an enjoyable time hiking through scenic mountains with perfect weather. This is an easy low-stress walk on well-marked and maintained trail, without massive gains and losses and at a lower altitude than some of the areas further south.
It would be a good trip for less-experienced backpackers, people who would like to backpack with younger children, or those with altitude sickness problems. The Greyhound bus runs from Truckee to San Francisco, so anybody in the Bay Area who can find a ride to Sonora Pass, Ebbetts Pass, or Carson Pass might consider walking the PCT from one of those places north to Truckee (a few miles east of the PCT near I-80).
We were quite surprised by the number of people we ran into along the trail. There were plenty of day hikers, a number of backpackers walking the Tahoe Rim Trail (which is coincident with the PCT for about forty miles) and a couple of folks doing long segments of the PCT. In particular, the area around Lake Winnemucca was quite busy with people enjoying the easy day hike from Carson Pass, and the Desolation Wilderness was also being used by a lot of weekend backpackers. Although the area was busy in places, we never had any difficulty finding private campsites. Wildflowers were still quite vibrant and colorful, even though it was already August. We had very few mosquitos and never needed repellant.
Of interest for folks who might like to try this sometime:
• at least during the summer, there is friendly staff at an information building at Carson Pass. As PCT hikers, we were offered water and cookies. You can’t buy food there, but you could purchase any number of guidebooks, historical accounts, and/or stuffed animals.
• there is a deli and store on the trail at Echo Lake a couple of miles north of Echo Summit which is also open during the summer. They sell freshly made sandwiches, beer and ice cream as well as a decent variety of groceries including a small selection of fresh fruit and vegetables.
• water was never much of an issue as many of the creeks were still flowing during our walk.
• there is very good camping on top of the ridge just between highway 40 and I-80. At this place, road noise was not noticeable from either 40 or 80, which is a mile or so north of that spot.
• Granite Chief and Tinker Knob are walk-ups no more than ten minutes from the PCT. Both have fine views from the top. The true summits of Round Top and Castle Peak at reached via short class 3 climbs. Both of these mountains are more distant from the PCT. There are also numerous summits in the Desolation with Dick’s Peak being the most accessible from the PCT.
We used the iPhone App HalfMile PCT, which we thought was terrific. Kudos to the developers David Lippke (“White Jeep”) and Lon Cooper (“Halfmile”). And we used HalfMile’s excellent printed map set. Halfmile’s website makes it very easy to prepare for a hike anywhere on the PCT with very little trip planning effort.
